I think I'll have cake

Tonight, I think I'll have cake.

I know it is Halloween and all; Candy will by abundant. And while I am a bit old to go out and collect my own, I will send my two children out as my surrogates to make sure I'm stocked up on sweets until the first round of Christmas parties.

Yet, I still need the cake. You see, It is my father's birthday. Seventy-three years ago Alton Ray Adams came bouncing into this world, not so much with a "Boo!" as much as a blood curdling scream. I am not sure that he had cake that night (I wasn't there.), but I will wager that even in the heart of the depression, such as it was, my Mammaw found a way to construct a chocolate cake. And with that, the die was cast: Chocolate cake from that point on and up to the time I left home to go to college. You may not see the importance of this but let me tell you, it was a good idea. It knocked the edge off of your sweet tooth, making it easier to avoid binging on chocolate and caramel corn, and, let us be clear...CAKE IS GOOD!

I have no idea why I got away from the habit. Sure, I left home and, after all, it was not my birthday. By why let a great tradition die for the lack of reason to celebrate? After all, my Dad was having a birthday somewhere, was he not?

I think I'll have cake tonight. It will be Chocolate, with vanilla ice cream, in order to celebrate a life. A life that ended peacefully just one year, three months, and fifteen days ago tonight. Don't misunderstand me, I am not looking to have a pity party here. Zig Ziglar says that the problem with pity parties is that you cant get any one to come and no one sends presents . He's right.

I miss my father all the time...not just on holidays where candy is served. I missed him yesterday and am fairly certain that some time this week some one will say something or look at me in some particular way and I will recall some slice of a memory that makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time. You can sprain tear duct that way. No, that is not what I want tonight.

I think I will have cake tonight, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, and a glass of cold whole milk. I'll eat just enough to take the edge off my sweet tooth, and lets face it...old memories, just like cake, are good.